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VESI Graduate Certificate: We Hardly Knew You - eriehiker - 10-08-2026
Many longtime users of this forum know that VESI is a provider of online classes intended for teachers as professional development. It stands for Virtual Education Software, Inc. VESI provides the courses and learning management system and partners with dozens of colleges/universities to actually award the credits.
https://www.virtualeduc.com/
PD credits for teachers are somewhat problematic. Despite being classified as "graduate" credits, they are often discounted as not real graduate credits because they are frequently prefixed as EDU or EDUC credits outside of specific subject areas and they mostly are not part of degree programs at the colleges/universities that transcript them.
There have been many ideas about how to make these credits useful and transfer them into degree programs.
A couple of years ago, I read through the partner universities lists with a fine-toothed comb and found a program via Trine University that probably set the high water mark for these credits. Note that this program no longer exists.
Basically, the Indiana branch of the AFT had an agreement with Trine in which teachers could take these VESI courses for a flat fee and then earn an actual graduate certificate with certain groupings of these courses. You can see this within Trine's archived 2025 catalog:
https://www.trine.edu/resources/registrar/trinecatalogspring2025a.pdf
The complicating factor is that a person seems to have had to have been a member of the Indiana AFT to do this. In any case, AFT Indiana has now shifted the transcripting to Gannon University and this graduate certificate program seems to have ended. Still, one could argue that taking these sets of courses could be considered equivalent to a graduate certificate if one is inclined to want to do this.
Copy/Paste from Trine catalog:
Graduate Certificates:
Classroom Behavior and Management (K-12)
Degree Requirements
Requirements List - Need to complete all 13 credits in the following: EDUV 5002 Advanced Classroom Management: Children as Change Agents (K-12) 2 EDUV 5003 Behavior is Language: Strategies for Managing Disruptive Behavior (5-12) 3 EDUV 5082 Harassment, Bullying & Cyber-Intimidation in Schools (K-12) 2 EDUV 5203 Understanding Aggression: Coping with Aggressive Behavior in the Classroom (P-12) 3 EDUV 5303 Violence in Schools: Identification, Prevention & Intervention Strategies (P-12) 3
Early Childhood Education (EC)
Degree Requirements
Requirements List - Need to complete all 13 credits in the following: EDUV 5013 Early Childhood: Observation & Assessment (EC) 3 EDUV 5023 Early Childhood: Program Planning (EC) 3 EDUV 5033 Early Childhood: Typical & Atypical Development (EC) 3 EDUV 5062 Early Childhood: Family-Centered Services (EC) 2 EDUV 5102 Infant & Toddler Mental Health: Issues & Information for Educators (EC) 2
English Language Arts Instruction (K-12)
Degree Requirements
Requirements List - Need to complete 12 of 17 credits available EDUV 5073 Reading Fundamentals #3: The Elements of Effective Reading Instruction & Assessment (K-12) 3 EDUV 5103 Try DI!: Planning & Preparing a Differentiated Instruction Program (K-12) 3 EDUV 5202 Reading & Writing in Content Area (5-12) 2 EDUV 5302 Reading Fundamentals #1: An Introduction to Scientifically-based Research (K-6) 2 EDUV 5402 Reading Fundamentals #2: Laying the Foundation for Effective Reading Instruction (K-6) 2 EDUV 5403 Why DI?: An Introduction to Differentiated Instruction (K-8) 3 EDUV 5502 Six Traits of Writing Model: Teaching & Assessing (P-12) 2
English Language Learners (K-12)
Degree Requirements
Requirements List - Need to complete 12 of 19 credits available EDUV 5043 English Language Learner: Language Acquisition (K-12) 3 EDUV 5053 English Language Learner: Methods & Materials (K-12) 3 EDUV 5202 Reading & Writing in Content Area (5-12) 2 EDUV 5403 Why DI?: An Introduction to Differentiated Instruction (K-8) 3 EDUV 5503 English Language Learner: Evaluation & Assessment (K-12) 3 EDUV 5603 English Language Learner: Linguistics (K-12) 3 EDUV 5702 Teaching Diversity: Influences & Issues in the Classroom (K-12) 2
Instructional Design (K-12)
Degree Requirements
Requirements List - Need to complete 12 of 28 credits available EDUV 5002 Advanced Classroom Management: Children as Change Agents (K-12) 2 EDUV 5032 Build School Communities: Brain Smart Classroom Management (K-12) 2 EDUV 5072 Educational Assessment: Assessing Student Learning in the Classroom (K-12) 2 EDUV 5083 Response to Intervention: Practical Information for the Classroom Teacher (K-12) 3 EDUV 5092 Inclusion: Working with Students with Special Needs in General Education Classrooms (K2 Graduate Programs| 289 12) EDUV 5093 Teaching Secondary Math Conceptually: Meeting Mathematics Standards (5-12) 3 EDUV 5103 Try DI!: Planning & Preparing a Differentiated Instruction Program (K-12) 3 EDUV 5112 Understanding & Implementing Common Core Standards (K-12) 2 EDUV 5202 Reading & Writing in Content Area (5-12) 2 EDUV 5403 Why DI?: An Introduction to Differentiated Instruction (K-8) 3 EDUV 5802 Teaching Elementary Math Conceptually: A New Paradigm (K-6) 2 EDUV 5602 Talented & Gifted: Working with High Achievers (K-6) 2
Special Education: Mild Interventions (K-12)
Degree Requirements
Requirements List - Need to complete 12 of 19 credits available EDUV 5003 Behavior is Language: Strategies for Managing Disruptive Behavior (5-12) 3 EDUV 5012 Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Information & Interventions for Effective Teaching (K-6) 2 EDUV 5022 Autism & Asperger’s Disorder: Information & Effective Intervention Strategies (K-12) 2 EDUV 5062 Early Childhood: Family-Centered Services (EC) 2 EDUV 5063 Learning Disabilities: Practical Information for the Classroom Teacher (K-12) 3 EDUV 5083 Response to Intervention: Practical Information for the Classroom Teacher (K-12) 3 EDUV 5092 Inclusion: Working with Students with Special Needs in General Education Classrooms (K12) 2 EDUV 5902 Traumatized Child: The Effects of Stress, Trauma & Violence on Student Learning (P12) 2
Trauma-Informed Instruction (P-12)
Degree Requirements
Requirements List - Need to complete 12 of 17 credits available EDUV 5003 Behavior is Language: Strategies for Managing Disruptive Behavior (5-12) 3 EDUV 5042 Child Abuse: Working with Abused & Neglected Children (P-12) 2 EDUV 5052 Drugs & Alcohol in Schools: Understanding Substance Use & Abuse (5-12) 2 EDUV 5102 Infant & Toddler Mental Health: Issues & Information for Educators (EC) 2 EDUV 5203 Understanding Aggression: Coping with 3 290| Trine University Spring 2025 Trine Course Catalog Aggressive Behavior in the Classroom (P-12) EDUV 5303 Violence in Schools: Identification, Prevention & Intervention Strategies (P-12) 3 EDUV 5902 Traumatized Child: The Effects of Stress, Trauma & Violence on Student Learning (P12) 2
RE: VESI Graduate Certificate: We Hardly Knew You - Mint Berry Crunch - 10-08-2026
Ah! I had totally forgotten about VESi. There was a similar post years ago about the Albion Center for Professional Development at Idaho State University that offered self-paced courses for PDUs.
Each credit was $55 dollars, but you receive a credit I think of $180 to use towards any one of their course offerings via Albion. So pretty much 1 free course.
I did 1 educational course that was supposedly graduate-level credits for a non-degree seeking student via Albion and sent the transcript over to WPUNJ, but I was informed it was just for PDUs, so it didn't count. However, it sparked an idea in me: if individuals complete courses via VESi and or Albion, and according to this, send the transcripts over to Gannon University to be transcribed, I wonder if this would work as a sort of credit laundering. This was similarly done with FEMA courses before on here through a college in Maryland (I don't remember the name).
I am curious if this would be, as you propose, an alternative way for completing graduate certs at Trine University.